1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a washing machine, and more particularly, to a commercial washing machine that is capable of terminating a subsequent operation(s) of an overall washing cycle during a certain operation prior to the subsequent operation(s) and a washing method of the same.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, a laundry machine is a machine that cleans clothes and bedclothes (hereinafter, referred to as “laundry”) through various processes, such as washing, rinsing, spin-drying, and drying, to remove contaminant from the laundry. Representative examples of the laundry machine include a washing machine and a drying machine.
Based on the purpose of use thereof, the washing machine may be classified as a household washing machine or as a commercial washing machine. The household washing machine is a general washing machine that is installed in a house to allow a user to do laundry using the washing machine without payment of laundry charges, whereas the commercial washing machine is a special washing machine that is installed in an apartment house or a place of business, such as a Laundromat, to require users who wish to do laundry using the washing machine to pay predetermined laundry charges and perform a washing operation for a predetermined period of time only when the payment of the predetermined laundry charges is completed.
As can be seen from the above description, the commercial washing machine is jointly used by an unspecified number of users, and therefore, the commercial washing machine is characterized in that the commercial washing machine is designed and manufactured such that the commercial washing machine exhibits higher profit efficiency, stability, and maintainability than the household washing machine.
Also, a commercial drying machine, which dries wet laundry using hot air and by mechanical actions, is generally used separately from the commercial washing machine, which washes, rinses, and spin-dries laundry using water and detergent and by mechanical actions to remove contaminant from the laundry.
In recent years, of course, a washing-and-drying machine, which is capable of washing, rinsing, spin-drying, and drying laundry in a batch fashion, has been placed on the market. However, the drying capacity of the washing-and-drying machine is less than the washing capacity of the washing-and-drying machine, the price of the washing-and-drying machine is relatively high, and the structure of the washing-and-drying machine is complicated, with the result that the commercial use of the washing-and-drying machine is not very popular.
For this reason, the commercial washing machine and the commercial drying machine are installed together at a place of a predetermined size. Preferably, a plurality of commercial washing machines and a plurality of commercial drying machines are installed to improve profit efficiency through the use of the commercial washing machines and the commercial drying machines by a plurality of users.
Generally, the commercial washing machine is constructed in a structure in which, when a user deposits money in the commercial washing machine, the commercial washing machine detects the deposit of the money through a reader mounted in the commercial washing machine and allows a user to manipulate the commercial washing machine.
According to the manipulation of the user, as shown in FIG. 1, the commercial washing machine performs a washing cycle including a washing operation (S2), a rinsing operation (S3), a spin-drying operation (S4), and a draining operation (S5).
Meanwhile, the commercial washing machine is continuously used by an unspecified number of users, with the result that there is a great possibility that the commercial washing machine will break or malfunction more frequently than the household washing machine. Consequently, an owner of the commercial washing machine inevitably has the commercial washing machine repaired frequently or inspected periodically.
However, when the commercial washing machine is operated to confirm whether the commercial washing machine malfunctions at a certain operation of an overall washing cycle during the repair or the inspection of the commercial washing machine, the operation of the commercial washing machine is stopped only after the remaining operations are performed even though the inspection of the certain operation is completed.
For example, when the commercial washing machine is operated to detect the abnormality of the rinsing operation, the operation of the commercial washing machine is stopped only after the remaining operations, i.e., the spin-drying operation and the draining operation, are performed even though the determination as to whether the rinsing operation is abnormal or not is completed.
Consequently, more than necessary time is required for repair and inspection of the commercial washing machine. Furthermore, for a Laundromat where a plurality of commercial washing machines are installed, the repair and inspection of the commercial washing machines are carried out for a long time, with the result that the owner of the Laundromat may suffer loss of profits. In addition, the increase of time necessary for the repair and inspection of commercial washing machines may incur user's inconvenience and distrust.